Weakerthans, Constantines, Attack In Black, Cancer Bats, Tegan And Sara on Polaris Long List

As many of our American readers sit on the edge of their seats as the Polaris Short List 2008 is coming up, the full Polaris Long List 2008 has been leaked to the public in what could be some sort of International security snafu. Says Prize Founder and Executive Director Steve Jordan:

Our objective with the Polaris Long List is to expose even more of the essential music that's being made across the country and hopefully increase anticipation for what is sure to be a thrilling 2008 Short List."

Or maybe it was released on purpose to drum up press. Thrilling indeed Steve. Canada, my neighbor to the north and home to a quality proportion of senior editors for this website, has been running the Polaris music prize for three years, this being the first that the forty band long list has been released to the public. There's a $20,000 amount awarded to "the best full-length Canadian album released from June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008, judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales. The list was selected by the 185 members of the Polaris Music Prize jury, which consists of music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada. No music industry personnel with direct financial relationships with artists vote for Polaris." The forty albums will be whittled down to ten as the prize is announced on July 7, 2008. You can click Read More for the full list of albums being considered for the Short List, in alphabetical order.

The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
Attack In Black - Marriage
Black Mountain - In The Future
Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow and Blue
Buck 65 - Situation
Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
Caribou - Andorra
City And Colour - Bring Me Your Love
Constantines - Kensington Heights
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
Fred Eaglesmith - Tinderbox
Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
Christine Fellows - Nevertheless
Gatineau - Gatineau
Hayden - In Field And Town
Veda Hille - This Riot Life
Hilotrons - Happymatic
Holy Fuck - LP
Islands - Arm's Way
Karkwa - Le volume du vent
Corb Lund - Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
The New Pornographers - Challengers
Pas Chic Chic - Au Contraire
Sandro Perri - Tiny Mirrors
Plants And Animals - Parc Avenue
Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under
Protest The Hero - Fortress
Justin Rutledge - Man Descending
Sadies - New Seasons
Shad - The Old Prince
Socalled - Ghetto Blaster
Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Tegan And Sara - The Con
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Two Hours Traffic - Little Jabs
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Wintersleep - Welcome To The Night Sky